The Obama administration reportedly is considering trading Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held captive in Pakistan for five years. The U.S. would release five Afghan Taliban fighters for the only U.S. prisoner of war.

Such a swap would be a mistake that would put more innocent lives in danger. Too often, freed Islamists return home and re-enter the fight against the United States. Numerous inmates that were released from the U.S. detention center in Cuba have gone on to kill again.

Abu Sufian bin Qumu, released from U.S. custody in 2007, was one of the leaders of the assault on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other personnel were killed in 2012. Abdul Qayyum, said to be the current operational commander of Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, was released from Gitmo, as was his field deputy Abdul Rauf. At least one in five Gitmo releases rejoin the jihad against the international coalition in Central Asia, according to U.S. estimates.

Prisoner exchanges are also counterproductive because releasing suspected terrorists and Taliban fighters sends a message that the price of getting caught raising arms against the United States isn't as costly as it once was. In this way, Gitmo releases not only return Islamists to the battlefield but also encourage violence by others.

None of this suggests that other efforts shouldn't be employed to free Bergdahl. America can't leave anyone behind. The same military that can hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden — the most wanted and carefully hidden criminal on the planet — can find and rescue one of its own. Commandos should be left alone to do their job quietly and methodically. A video of the U.S. POW intercepted last month suggests rescuers are getting closer.

Exit plans are for U.S. troops and coalition partners to withdraw from Afghanistan by December and transfer defensive responsibilities to the Afghan military. The departure of such a large force will relieve pressure on the elements holding Bergdahl hostage.

That reality and the seized video, which shows him in ill health, are increasing pressure on the White House to take action.

"There should be no doubt that we work every day using our military, our intelligence and our diplomatic tools to see Sgt. Bergdahl returned home safely," White House spokesman Jay Carney said this week. "If negotiations do resume at some point, then we will want to talk with the Taliban about the safe return of Sgt. Bergdahl."

President Obama should resist this option lest he encourages the radicalism he's hoping to mollify.

Brett M. Decker is consulting director at the White House Writers Group. Van D. Hipp Jr. is chairman of American Defense International and former deputy assistant secretary of the Army.